Another baby at the St. Louis Zoo! And another successful pairing thanks to an AZA Species Survival Plan. Why do you reckon this bird is called a tawny frogmouth? Yep, you guessed it! Yum yum…frogs are on this bird’s menu.

There was sad news this week, as the International Union for Conservation of Nature declared the western black rhino extinct.

This unfortunate news reiterates the importance of Species Survival Plans, which are utilized by the St. Louis Zoo and other AZA institutions. Click here to learn more about the Species Survival Plan Program. To find out how you can support rhino conservation and fight poaching, visit rhinos.org.

Kali was orphaned after an Alaskan hunter killed his mother; the hunter, realizing he had killed a nursing mother, tracked down Kali and took him in. Kali eventually found his way to the Buffalo Zoo (by way of Alaska Zoo) and may soon call St. Louis home.

To learn more about Kali’s current situation, check out this article by Lindsay Toler of the Riverfront Times.

Koola, an 18 year old western lowland gorilla who resides at the Brookfield Zoo, has given birth to a baby girl. The baby’s father, Jojo, was sent from Lincoln Park Zoo to Brookfield last year based on a suggestion from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Gorilla Species’ Survival Plan. You may also remember the new baby’s grandma, Binti Jua, who was named Newsweek’s Hero of the Year for saving a human child in 1996.

You can see these gorillas at Brookfield’s Tropic Zoo: Africa exhibit.

“If you are a student of innovation, here is one lesson you can draw from a troop of chimpanzees at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo: There’s a payoff to trying unexpected things, even when the current state of affairs isn’t too bad.

The strongest chimps don’t innovate. Creative problem solving has come from the weakest with the least to lose. That’s a takeaway so far from a 10-month study designed to explore the role of innate curiosity in chimps.

“The little guy’s getting ahead, which is nice,” said research biologist Lydia Hopper.

The study’s structure has hewed remarkably to the way top business schools teach entrepreneurship.”

Fezzik, a giraffe born at the St. Louis Zoo, is a new dad. Zoo Miami put its newest giraffe, who does not have a name yet, on exhibit yesterday. At birth, the baby boy weighed 152 pounds and stood close to six feet tall. Fezzik arrived at Zoo Miami in 1998.